Sunday, February 5, 2012

This piece by Mirmehdi Ağaoğlu on the possibility of renewed fighting over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh appeared recently on kulis.az. While the first part of the article seems to be arguing against the resumption of hostilities, the author ends on a nationalistic, pro-war note. This attitude is very prevalent among the generation too young to have experienced the horrors of the conflict firsthand. This article was one of the most viewed on the website last week. I am uncertain about the portions highlighted in blue.

Imagine for a moment. The day is tomorrow or another day and at this moment the Karabakh war begins. All able-bodied men go to the army to fight either as volunteers or as conscripts.

Some women are sent out to war as nurses while the bolder ones take up arms. And Facebook. Think about the condition of this social network.

Naturally, it won’t resemble the war of the early 90s at all. Everyone has a telephone in their hands. Using telephones on the front line will probably be limited. The clever ones will be able to get around this ban. All day there will be statuses about the war, connections giving news of the course of the war, photos reflecting scenes of fighting, songs and video clips in the spirit of patriotism.

On profiles there will be pictures of highly armed people, a young man stepping on the chest of an Armenian corpse, a group of our comrades emerging from the top of a tank, our friend with a bandaged head, our female friend distributing food to soldiers with metal dishes in their hands. What other kinds of pictures will be on profiles?

We have heard many stories like this in childhood. Someone captured an Armenian and took him to the grave of his friend and cut off his head. If things like this happen again then imagine the picture of a decapitated Armenian soldier. The comments written below the picture. How praises will be said to that soldier with his knife, what curses will be rained down on that Armenian prisoner gurgling blood like a sacrificial lamb!..

Statuses giving news on the progress of the fighting. We will get news faster from soldiers under siege than from the commanders undertaking the siege. We will know within minutes how many soldiers have gone missing, how many soldiers have been captured, who has remained healthy, who has been wounded, and who has been killed.

A farewell letter written on the wall of a beloved woman from a soldier who knows that he won’t get out of a siege.

A message written by a commander preparing for tomorrow’s deadly fight after cleaning his gun and leaning against the damp wall of a trench after looking for the last time at a picture of his son. And looking up at the starry sky without uttering any words the revitalizing visions of his son. The commander will not be a part of those visions.

The messages of condolence being written on the wall of our Faebook friend who has been martyred in the war. A photograph of his cold body. The messages full of insults and curses written on the wall of a soldier who has deserted by his comrades and supported by those still behind the front lines.

It's possible to write predictions like this. Without going on much more let's finish on an optimistic note.

After the intense fighting pictures of liberated Ağdam and Boyəhmədli villages. The dexterity from the hand of a quick soldier. After the heavy fighting no matter how tired he is he will find a chance to share this joy.